Unlocking the Number code in Tanzania

Tanzanian pupils are now having fun and at the same time unlocking mathematics with the newmero brick.

Newmero has donated several class sets of the newmero bricks to KATEMPRIS, an English Medium Primary School in the Kayanga, Karagwe province in North-Western Tanzania in Africa.

The school was started in 2014 by a Danish/Tanzanian couple to help the local community and to develop and introduce new teaching methodologies in the Tanzanian primary school. The school already has a teacher with a Montessori background to supplement and develop the traditional Tanzanian teaching methodology like a blackboard, pencil and books.

In Tanzania the selection of teaching materials for learning mathematics is very limited, so the children were very happy and curious when newmero bricks were given to them to use in different mathematic classes. After a short introduction, they were touching, turning and counting the different bricks.

In the kindergarten the kids, aged 3-4 years, were playing and counting with the yellow bricks - counting and identifying the different numbers from 1-9. The children are easily engaged when they can touch the bricks, use the counting knobs and see the number they are counting.

After half an hour, they were actually able to add 1+2 or 3+1 by finding the bricks and counting the total counting knobs on the bricks.

The children aged 4-5 were also happy to touch and try to understand the Friends of 10. They quickly understood how the bricks help find the right Friends of 10.

The newmero bricks were used in Standard One and Standard Two (children in the age from 5-8) when basic addition was practiced. The Place Value exercise “Building Houses” were used and made it easy for the children to see, the "Tens" and the "Ones" and understand what the steps in addition is.

The children in Standard Two were practicing addition that requires them to use the "carry" which for a lot of children is difficult to understand. The newmero bricks help a little when they can actually see the carry.

The children were enjoying the bricks, learning mathematics by touching and playing instead of only watching the blackboard and writing in their exercise books.